Can you share a bit about your business and what you do?

Hella Cookies is a little bit of everything. We make cookies, crinkles, munchies, cocoa bombs, smash hearts/teddy bears, pandesal, and the menu is constantly growing! We love making treats that WE enjoy eating and think that everyone else would enjoy also. On our menu, we have traditional flavors like birthday cake, snickerdoodle, etc., but we also have ube, buko pandan, matcha, and more!

Along with our rotating (almost) weekly menu, we occasionally do dessert tables for events such as baby showers, birthdays, gender reveals. Clients have used our cookies and cocoa bombs as party favors, Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, or potluck goodies!

When and why did you decide to start your new business?

So… I actually started “Double the L’oven” back in 2016 while I was in the nursing program, but once I had to start working full-time and being a full-time single mommy at the time, I ended up stopping, and my IG just sat there.

Fast forward to April 2020. Amidst the pandemic and being laid off, I was buying STORE BOUGHT cookie dough almost every other day because my daughters loved baking cookies! I started thinking, “OMG, I’m wasting so much money doing this. I could make my own.”

I started testing different recipes and different variations–customizing them to make our own and just giving them away to friends and family. Everyone had been telling me that we should sell them, so I figured I’d try and just put it out there. At the end of May, I dusted off that OLD IG, decided to rebrand to something more fitting, and Bay inspired to represent us and where we started… and that’s the start of Hella Cookies.

What do you love most about running your own business?

There’s actually a bunch of things I love about running my own business! Haha. I love that I get to use my creativity to invent new treats, flavors, products (stickers, sweaters, shirts, etc.), and promotional materials (IG posts, thank you cards, packaging).

I also absolutely LOVE that I get to do this with my family, and I am ultimately trying to build this small business for them. They help taste test the treats, give me feedback or ideas for new flavors. IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR, haha. I also get to work when I want to (but as a small business owner, we know this is pretty much 24/7).

Do you have a business goal you can’t wait to hit either this year or in the future?

This year we hope to do a couple pop-ups around the bay area and share our goodies with everyone! We love building connections with our customers and also other small businesses! #collaborationovercompetition

It’s a dream of mine to open up a small cafe where I can sell our goodies and sell boba! But one step at a time, haha.